Child&#39;s feeding apparatus



March 1965 s. s. SCHWARTZ CHILDS FEEDING APPARATUS Filed Sept. 6, 1962 H v a W WW INVENTOR SEYMOUR S. SCHWARTZ ATTORNEY United States Patent 'ce 3,172,561 CHILDS FEEDING APPARATUS Seymour S. Schwartz, Los Angeles, Calif., assignor to Benjamin F. Edwards, Santa Monica, Galif. Filed Sept. 6, 1962, Ser. No. 221,831 1 Claim. (Cl. 22090.2)

The present invention relates to feeding apparatus, and more particularly to feeding apparatus for association with a glass or the like to facilitate the feeding of liquids to children.

The greater majority of young children resist to varying degrees the drinking of milk and similar liquids which are essential to the health and proper growth of such children. In order to insure the consumption of such essential liquids, the parents must utilize persuasion of various types and be constantly in attendance during the consumption of the liquids. Such steps are not conducive to the well being of either the child or the parent.

It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide a new and novel device for association with a drinking glass which will insure the drinking of milk and like liquids by children without encouragement from the parents.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a new and novel feeding device for children which will stimulate their desire for drinking fluids.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of a new and novel feeding device that is extremely simple in design, inexpensive in cost, and completely sanitary.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of a new and novel feeding device that utilizes the liquid as it is being drunk to create a showering or fountain effect highly amusing to the child.

Yet another object of the present invention is the provision of a new and novel feeding device that is readily attachable to a drinking vessel and is perfectly safe in use.

Other and additional objects will become manifest from the ensuing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

Broadly stated, the new and novel drinking device made in accordance with the present invention comprises cover means adapted to envelop the top of a liquid container, tube means centrally mounted on said cover means in vertical relationship therewith, covering means detachably seated in sealed relationship with said cover means, and second tube means mounted on said covering means adjacent one perimetral edge thereof, said second tube means adapted to receive a flexible drinking tube.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the present invention then consists of the means hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, the annexed drawings and the following description setting forth in detail certain means in the carrying out of the invention, such disclosed means illustrating, however, but one of various ways in which the principle of the invention may be employed.

The present invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of a feeding device made in accordance with the present invention mounted on a drinking vessel.

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the bottom or underside of the feeding device shown in FIG. 1.

FIGURE 3 is a section taken along lines 33 of FIG. 2.

Referring now to the drawing, an illustrative embodiment of a feeding device made in accordance with the present invention and generally designated by reference numeral 14) is shown. The feeding device includes 3,172,561 Patented Mar. 9, 1965 a cover member, generally designated by reference numeral 11, which is of a size and dimension that it will easily seat over and cover the open end of a drinking glass G or similar liquid container. The cover member 11 may be made of any suitable material possessing the desired strength and which will not tend to react with the liquid. A preferred class of materials suitable for use are plastics, with a particularly desirable one being polyethylene.

The cover member 11 comprises a circular vertical outer wall member 12 having a diameter just greater than the outside diameter of the drinking glass G around which it is to be positioned. The outside surface of the wall member 12 is preferably formed with serrations 13 to better facilitate the handling of the cover member 11 when mounting or removing it from a glass. The wall member 12 is provided with a transversely extending web member 14 of an area sufiicient to cover the mouth of the glass over which the cover member 11 will be positioned. The web member 14 may be positioned at any desirable point on the wall member 12 so long as it covers the glass. However, as illustrated, it is preferred that the web member 14 be so positioned intermediate the ends of the wall member as to form upper and lower sections sealed from one another by the web. This construction facilitates the placing of the cover member 11 over the mouth of the glass in a proper manner and prevents its accidental displacement therefrom. Similarly, the web member 14 may be of any desired and particular configuration, but, as illustrated, it is preferred that the central portion 15 thereof be dome-shaped or concave in configuration to enhance the creation of a fountain during the use of the device 10 in a manner to be more fully described hereinafter, and that the inner surface of the wall 12 above the web 14 be tapered on a friction fit conical angle, as shown.

A tube 16 is centrally positioned in integral relationship on the central portion 15 of the web member 14 and functions as the means through which the liquid will pass during use of the device. The tube 16 is of a comparatively small internal diameter to produce a restrictive passageway through which the liquid will flow at a greater velocity, thereby enhancing a shower or fountain effect of the liquid. The free end of the lower portion of the tube 16 is provided with a flexible drop-tube 17 which is of a length suflicient to reach the bottom of the glass to insure the consumption of the entire glass of liquid. The free end of the upper portion of the tube 16 extends upwardly from the central portion 15 for a comparatively short distance to insure adequate area for creating the fountain or showering effect.

To insure proper positioning of the cover member 11 on the glass G Without creating a hermetic seal therebetween, the lower section of the wall member 12 is preferably provided with a plurality of circumferentially spaced inwardly extending small projections or ribs 18.

The projections 18 function to provide air spaces be-' tween the wall member 12 and the glass along which air may pass upwardly for passage into the glass G. To insure entry of air into the glass G, the undersurface of the web member 14 is preferably provided with a plurality of downwardly extending projections 19 which I are complementary with the wall projections 18 to provide a complete air passageway into the glass in the manner of an air vent. It is to be clearly understood that this particular embodiment of air vent, while preferred, is illustrative and not restrictive of the invention in its broader aspects.

A dome-shaped transparent top cover member, generally designated by reference numeral 20, is detachably seated in sealed relationship within the inner periph- 3 tr of the u per portion of the wall member 12. The dome-shaped member is preferably made of a suitable and preferably non-rigid plastic, such as, for example, polystyrene or poly-methylmethacrylate, and is of a height suflicient to provide an adequate area for the creation of the desired fountain or shower effect.

As illustrated, the dome-shaped cover member 2' 3 comprises a circular, vertically disposed wall member 21 adapted to frictionally and sealingly engage the covering member 11. In the form shown, the exterior surface of wall 21 is frictionally tapered for sealing engagement as shown, with its maximum diameter at least equal to and preferably slightly greater than the maximum inside diameter of the wall member 12, thereby insuring a tight press fit when the two wall members ate in assembled relationship with one another. The Vertical height of the 'wall member 21 is preferably equal to the Vertical distance between the web member 14 and the topedge of the wall member 12, thereby in- "surirlg a flush engagement at the top thereof. The wall member 21 of the dome-shaped cover member 2% is provided with a top web member 22 extending inwardly therefrom which functions as a top cover element when the cover member 20 is seated in the cover member 11. The central portion of the web member 22 has an opening therein with a vertically disposed tall dome element 23 integrally formed around the opening. The dome element 23 is spaced just above the upper perimetral edge of the central portion 15 of the web member 14, thereby permitting the flow of liquid therearound after being ejected through the tube 16. The height of the dome-shaped element 23 should be sufficient to provide an adequate area for the fountain or shower area to be created and to be seen by the child. The web member 22 at its point of jointure with the wall member 21 is provided with a tube member 24, the lower end of which terminates just above the bottom edge of the Wall member 21. The upper end of the tube member 24 extends above the web member 22 for a height sufficient to permit the attachment of a flexible drinking tube 25.

In the operation of the feeding device 1 5, the top cover member is seated in the cover member 11 in tight sealed relationship and the device then mounted around the top edge of the glass G containing the liquid. The projections 18 and 19 will engage the glass G at spaced points therearound thus preventing the creation of a seal therebetween. The child then sucks through the tube 25, creating a suction which draws the milk up through the tube 17 and through the tube 16 on the web member 14. The milk passes up through the tube 16 with considerable velocity and showers or fountains out from the upper free end of the tube to cre ate the desired amusing eifect on the child. The milk or other liquid then flows downwardly between the cen tral portion 15 and the web member 22 into the well formed therebetween, where it passes up through the tube 24 and then through tube 25 into the mouth of the child. The device 10 thus creates an amusing efiect which is observable only so long as the liquid is being drunk.

The tapering of the interengaging surfaces of the por tions 13 and 21 aids in insuring a tight fit between the two parts, and this tapering and also a slight tapering of the walls of the tubes 16 and 24 away from the webs 15 and 22 also facilitates de-molding of the parts. When separated, the parts are completely open on both sides and hence are easily thoroughly cleaned. The well or sump formed between the walls 14 and 22 preferably has a capacity at least equal in volume to the volume of the tube 25', so that when the tube 25 drains back toward the container, its contents may be trapped in the sump so as to not cover the elevated fountain noz- Zle formed by the top of the tube 16 or pass therethrough into the drinking glass or other container G.

The transparent top cover member Ztl-ZS, as noted, is preferably formed of relatively rigid plastic, while the underlying member 11-19 is preferably formed of relatively flexible, elastic or rubbery plastic, such as polyethylene. This provision, plus the tapered junction be tween the two and the fact that the rubbery polymer may shrink with age more than the rigid polymer, assures the retention of a tight fit between the parts over a substantial period of use. As the rubbery polymers are not clearly transparent, the polyethylene is preferably colored, as by the inclusion of red pigments therein, and this provision also hides the milk in the glass G and forms a contrasting background for the fountain in the dome 23.

While there have been described herein what are at present considered preferred embodiments of the invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that modifications and changes may be made therein without departing from the essence of the invention. It is therefore to be understood that the exemplary embodiments are illustrative and not restrictive of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the appended claim, and that all modifications that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claim are intended to be included therein.

I claim:

A drinking device comprising vertically disposed wall means adapted to envelope the top perimetral edge of a liquid container, said wall means having means permitting the entry of air into the liquid container, web means secured to the inside surface of said wall means intermediate the ends thereof defining upper and lower sections for said wall means, said web means having a d0me-shaped central portion, tube means centrally mounted on said dome-shaped central portion, a transparent dome-shaped cover member detachably seated in sealing relationship within the upper section of said wall means, said dome-shaped central portion of said web member and said dome-shaped cover member being in vertically spaced relationship from one another, second tube means mounted on said dome-shaped cover member adjacent one perimetral edge thereof, said second tube means adapted to receive in detachable relationship a flexible drinking tube.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,655,279 10/53 Wolf 215-11 2,855,127 10/58 Lerner et al.

2,936,089 5/60 Goldfarb et al 220-23 3,047,177 7/62 Poitras et al. 2l556 THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner. EARLE J. DRUMMOND, Examiner. 

